The Castaic Mine is perhaps one of the most infamous LA area gold mines. It is here that legendary gold mine explorer Hugh Blanchard met his death. Property owners next to the mine allege that the mine is on their property but Hugh argued maps clearly showed it did not. His “Gold Mines of Los Angeles County” website lagoldmines.com created a flurry of visits to the mine.
The alleged owners then created their own website called castaicmine.com. While Hugh Blanchard’s website tells a great deal about the mine and its history the castaicmine.com site offers very little to curious gold mine aficionados other than stern warnings that trespassing is illegal. The site also references the dangers of the mine and Hugh’s death there.
USGS Topo indicates several tunnels and the mines name as Castaic Mine at 34.6858333333, -118.884444444. Google Earth reveals the amazingly steep slopes and identifying the tramway buildings, cables, winches and shaft openings is difficult. USGS Topo also shows a lot of mines north of the Castaic towards Gold Hill (imagine that).
If you have any info on the legendary Castaic please comment below.
3 Comments
Hello,
I am 91 years old. In the winter of 1939-1940,
I worked the Annie Rose claim site with Annie and
her husband, Adrian Briggs. Annie felt that the
lost Padre mine was somewhere on her claim site.
Her claim site was in Bear Canyon, not in Red Rock
Canyon. What she told me conforms to the Doc
Bragg version of the Lost Padre Mine.
Also, Mrs. Cordova, of the Cordova Ranch, also
spoke to me of Doc Bragg and Bronco Charlie
from eyewitness accounts. Email me for further
information.
Sincerely, Dave
Dave,
I was wondering if you had a collection of notes or a journal about your days working the mines. I like to read and research this sort of thing. My email is s6topher@gmail.com.
I found some rock material that is interesting while hiking by Castaic lake I need a expert to see it